Things to Think About

Another mass shooting, a lot less chatter.  I don't even feel like talking about it.  Is it because I'm still feeling a little hungover from all the gun control fighting after Aurora?  Or because a hate crime against Sikhs (whether the gunman realized they were Sikhs or understood what Sikhism is) feels like something unlikely to affect me while a random shooting in a movie theater feels like it just might affect me?  (At least the question is being asked.)

Irony:  I've been in Sikh temples more times than I've been to a midnight movie premier.

You should visit the kitchen of a Sikh temple sometime, my respect for the religion starts there.

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Another place I've been more than once:  jail.

No, not as an inmate.  This isn't going to be quite that interesting.

I was going to tell you the long story, but I don't have time for the long story.  Short story:  I was depressed.  (ETA: this is ancient history, like ten years ago.)  Part of my self-developed plan for getting not depressed (I did see a counselor; don't self-treat depression... I'm supposed to say that, right?) was to do a selfish selfless thing — volunteer at the local jail mentoring inmates.  As you may or may not know, vast numbers of inmates are, first and foremost, drug addicts.  (Slightly tangential link:  Planet Money's fascinating piece on Suboxone, a prescription pill to cure addiction that most users get on the street from their dealers.)

Anyway, you know a felony means you can't vote for the rest of your life.  And that black men are convicted of felonies much more often than whites (although I will say the inmates I worked with directly were both white).  A fascinating article came through my Twitter stream today on those facts, plus the fact (which I had never before considered) that prison inmates get counted in the census as being part of the district which contains their prison, thus increasing the representation of districts containing prisons even though the inmates can't vote.  End result, "prison-based gerrymandering" with parallels to the 3/5ths compromise.  I've added the article to my reading queue for closer examination.

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And I'm out of time, but you might also find interesting the ACLU's case against a Louisiana charter school that reserves the right to require female students take pregnancy tests and then kick them out if they either refuse the test or come back positive.

Comments

[Judy]

Always more to learn about my dear blogger. The honesty here, along with great links, are deeply appreciated.
On felons losing voting rights -- there are two states where that doesn't happen: Vermont and Maine. A few other states restore the "privilege" upon end of sentence; but most never get that basic right again.

[mar mar]

Yes, lots to think about. And much work to do to change the culture of our country (our species?), to make us what we should be. It often seems so simple, yet so hard.

[Rita]

I have learned more about Sikhs in the last week than I ever knew and I am so grateful for that. I am not grateful that it took a tragedy for me to learn those things. I love that they have four doors on their churches welcoming people from every corner of the earth. I love their beliefs in peace and inclusion. This is a church I could enjoy visiting. I would love to have a fuller discussion with you sometime.
The voting issue for felons is deeply disturbing. Thank you for your thoughts on this. xoxo